It is challenging to put a price on art, but the sales figures of these pieces are truly astonishing. Here are the top 10 most expensive artworks sold at auctions in 2024.
René Magritte, ‘L’Empire des Lumières’ 1954
Sale Price: $121,160,000
René Magritte’s L’Empire des Lumières sold for $121.16 million at Christie’s New York in November, setting a record for the most expensive surrealist artwork ever sold at auction. Measuring approximately 150 x 120 cm, this painting is one of the largest pieces in Magritte’s renowned Empire of Light series.
What It Depicts: This series features a surreal theme combining daytime and nighttime imagery across 27 variations. The painting portrays a house illuminated by a single streetlamp, with its warm yellow light reflecting on the water below, while the sky above is depicted as a bright, cloudy daytime blue. The composition is subtly veiled with tree silhouettes, evoking a dreamlike contrast between light and shadow, day and night.
Another version of this series was displayed at the Belgian Pavilion during the 1954 Venice Biennale and later became part of Peggy Guggenheim’s collection. Over the next 15 years, Magritte expanded this theme into a series to meet the high demand from collectors.
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Ed Ruscha, ‘Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half’ 1964
Sale Price: $68,260,000
Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964) was sold for $68.26 million at Christie’s New York in November, setting a new auction record for the artist. Exceeding its $50 million estimate, this piece is the last of Ruscha’s large-scale paintings from the 1960s still held in private collections. The artist’s signature style merges minimalist landscapes with textual elements.
What It Depicts: The painting features a Standard Oil gas station located on Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas. In the bottom right corner, there is a torn dime-novel cover, symbolizing Ruscha’s commentary on American consumer culture and nostalgia. The artist first encountered this gas station during a road trip from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City to visit his family, and it became a recurring motif in his work.
This painting gained additional prominence through its inclusion in the 2023-2024 retrospective Ed Ruscha / Now Then, held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Notably, it surpassed Ruscha’s previous record of $52.5 million, set in 2019 with Hurting the Word Radio #2 (1964).
Claude Monet, ‘Nymphéas’ 1914–17
Sale Price: $65,500,000
Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1914–17) sold for $65.5 million at Sotheby’s evening auction in New York in November. This magnificent painting is part of the Impressionist master’s celebrated Water Lilies series, inspired by the water lily pond in his garden at Giverny.
What It Depicts: Measuring approximately 150 x 200 cm, this painting exemplifies Monet’s celebrated play of light and lush natural aesthetics. As one of the earliest examples in the Water Lilies series—which comprises around 250 oil paintings—this work shifts from more realistic depictions to a complete focus on the water’s surface.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, ‘Untitled’ (ELMAR) 1982
Sale Price: $46,479,000
The work Untitled (ELMAR) by the famous graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who became famous for his expressionist paintings in the 1980s, was sold for 46.48 million dollars at the Phillips modern and contemporary art auction held in New York in May.
What It Depicts: The painting explores mythology and human struggle, depicting an Icarus-like figure falling from the skies while being targeted by arrows shot by an archer. This piece has a rich exhibition history, including displays at the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles in 1998 for the 10th anniversary of the artist’s death and at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2018 during a Basquiat retrospective.
René Magritte, ‘L’Ami Intime’ 1958
Sale Price: $42,123,969
This is the second time you see René Magritte on this list. The artist’s work, L’ami intime, was put up for auction again after 44 years and was sold for 42.12 million dollars at an independent surrealism auction organized by Christie’s in London in March.
What It Depicts: This painting is one of the few privately owned examples of Magritte’s iconic bowler-hatted man. The figure is depicted with his back turned, while a floating baguette and a wine glass hover behind him. Christie’s noted that this piece was last auctioned in 1980, purchased for £90,000 ($207,000) by Georges Marci. It later passed into the collection of renowned collectors Gilbert and Lena Kaplan and was rarely exhibited publicly, last shown in 1998 at the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels.
Andy Warhol, ‘Flowers’ 1964
Sale Price: $35,485,000
The enduring appeal of Andy Warhol’s iconic “Flowers” series was once again proven when his work Flowers sold for $35.48 million at Christie’s 20th century evening auction in May. Moreover, after about five minutes of bidding, it surpassed its $30 million upper estimate. This painting, measuring approximately 200 x 200, was made on linen using acrylic, fluorescent paint and screen printing ink.
What It Depicts: Created in response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Warhol’s Flowers juxtaposes vibrant floral imagery with the somber realities of mortality. Painted with acrylic, fluorescent paint, and silkscreen ink on linen, this approximately 200 x 200 cm piece also features hand-painted flower petals.
Claude Monet, ‘Meules à Giverny’ 1893
Sale Price: $34,804,500
Claude Monet is one of the special names included in this list twice. Meules à Giverny, one of the last haystacks paintings, was sold at Sotheby’s for 34.8 million dollars in May, making it its first buyer at auction. The work was brought to the United States by American landscape painter Dwight Blaney in 1895 and loaned to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
What It Depicts: This painting is part of Monet’s celebrated Haystacks series, comprising approximately 25 works that demonstrate the artist’s deep exploration of light, color, and texture. This sale follows the record-setting 2019 auction of Monet’s Meules (1890), which sold for $110 million.
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Coin de Jardin Avec Papillons’ 1887
Sale Price: $33,185,000
Vincent van Gogh’s Coin de Jardin Avec Papillons found its new owner at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Auction in May for $33.19 million. In this painting, Van Gogh depicted the bright flowers in the public gardens of Asnières, one of the towns on the banks of the Seine River.
What It Depicts: The painting depicts vibrant flowers in the public gardens of Asnières, a town along the Seine River. Initially offered at Christie’s in 2018 but unsold, this 2024 sale set a new record for a Van Gogh work from his Paris period (1886-1888).
Mark Rothko, ‘Untitled (Yellow and Blue)’ 1954
Sale Price: $32,474,502
Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow and Blue) was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction in November for 252.5 million Hong Kong dollars (32.47 million US dollars), making it the first Rothko oil painting to be auctioned in Asia. The work, which has a special place on the list with this title, was first purchased by an American art lover in the 1970s and later sold to François Pinault, the owner of Christie’s. After this, the painting was sold several more times at record prices, and the identity of the last owner who put it up for auction is unknown.
What It Depicts: The composition features two large color blocks—yellow above and blue below—with a thin yellow stripe at the bottom. The painting gained viral attention in 2022 for its resemblance to an inverted Ukrainian flag amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Les Canots Amarrés’ 1887
Sale Price: $32,189,041
It shouldn’t surprise you that Vincent van Gogh is on this list for the second time. Les canots amarrés was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in September for 250.62 million Hong Kong dollars ($32.19 million), as part of a rare triptych, also painted in the Asnières region.
What It Depicts: The painting portrays moored boats along the Seine River, set against a vast blue background with Paris faintly visible in the distance. It is part of a rare triptych believed to include Ponts sur la Seine à Asnières and Restaurant de la Sirène (both 1887), which share a similar color palette and horizontal perspective.
